Hand Tools, Power Tools, Equipment and Plant
This domain tests tool identification, correct use, care, and selection of plant for a given task.
Hand tools
Masonry: trowel, hawk, spirit level, plumb bob, line and pins, bolster, club hammer, straight edge, corner trowel, wooden and steel floats, pointing tool. Carpentry: claw hammer, saw, chisel, try square, marking gauge, plane. Bar bending: bending lever, hook, cutting chisel. Measuring: steel tape, folding rule, caliper. Care: clean after use, oil metal parts, store dry, and never strike a mushroom-headed chisel.
Power tools
Drill and impact drill, angle grinder, cut-off saw, electric mixer, needle vibrator (25–60 mm), plate compactor, demolition breaker, hoist, chain pulley block.
Plant and equipment
Excavator/backhoe, dumper, tractor-trolley, transit mixer, concrete pump, batching plant, roller, paver, tower crane, mobile crane, scaffolding and shuttering plates.
Selection logic
Match machine to output, access, power source and safety. Needle vibrator for reinforced concrete, plate compactor for granular fill, roller for road layers, hoist for vertical material movement.
Worked example
A 20 m³ slab pour on a city plot with limited access. Reasoning: a transit mixer discharging to a pump or hopper, plus needle vibrators and a screed, suits the volume and access. A batching plant is justified only for large continuous pours, and a tower crane is unnecessary for a slab of this size.
Traps
Using a grinder without its guard or with the wrong disc; using a vibrator to spread concrete (causes segregation); hoisting people in a material hoist; breaking reinforced concrete without locating the bars first.